EU to invest US$5.6m into gender-transformative change to improve food security

09 May 2019 --- Three UN agencies have launched an initiative that seeks to empower rural women and men through improved food security and better nutrition. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Fund For Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the World Food Programme (WFP) plan to address the root causes of rural gender disparities and thus strengthen efforts to end hunger and promote sustainable agriculture. The EU will support the initiative by allocating €5 million (US$5.6 million) to finance the four-year program.

Gender inequalities impose high costs on society. A 2011 report published by the FAO estimated that closing the gender gap in agriculture could increase yields on female-run farms by 20-30 percent, thereby generating significant gains in terms of food security, economic growth and social welfare. Numerous other studies have also shown that when women can earn their own income, they invest the majority of their earnings into their families – on nutrition, food, healthcare, schooling and farming activities – which is crucial for agricultural development.

“While many conventional approaches for closing the gender gaps in agriculture continue to be perfectly relevant, we have to think more creatively and be more daring in our actions,” says Daniel Gustafson, FAO Deputy Director-General for Programmes.

Such an approach requires working with decision-makers across sectors and at the same time empowering women, individually and collectively. It means engaging with men as allies for change; removing the structural, political, economic, cultural and social barriers that increase inequalities and limit women’s access and rights to resources and assets. In addition, it is important to promote women’s participation in decision-making at all levels of society, note the agencies in a joint statement.

Women working in a vegetable garden in the village of Ndiama Peulh, Senegal.

“By promoting gender-transformative change, we can pave the way for gender equality within rural households and communities, in rural organizations, among service-providers and other value chain actors and ultimately in policy processes,” Gustafson adds.

Addressing development in rural areas can greatly benefit nutritional aspects. A report published by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) noted that in 2018, malnutrition jumped for the third year in a row, with 821 million people globally now facing chronic food deprivation. With 70 percent of “the extremely poor” living in rural areas, a revitalization of such areas is urgently needed to stop rising malnutrition rates, the report warns.

Gender equality is key to food security and nutrition
Gender considerations are critical to humanitarian action as crises impact the lives of women and men, girls and boys in different ways. The impacts of conflict, natural disaster and crop failures are not “gender neutral.” A recent analysis of data by WFP from 188 countries revealed that such shocks significantly reduce the life expectancy of women more than that of men.

Alongside reducing the most extreme consequences of a humanitarian crisis, working to transform the lives of women and girls can effectively tackle inequalities that exclude and discriminate against them. For example, providing food assistance as cash-based transfers with opportunities for women to access resources can mean stronger decision-making power and financial inclusion.

However, gender inequality in rural areas is a multifaceted and complex issue that no single organization can tackle alone, FAO says.

The necessity for multi-sectoral approaches that utilize an array of different players across different industries in addressing malnutrition is often highlighted. Arnold Kawuba, part of DSM’s Nutrition Improvement team for the EMEA region emphasizes the importance of partnership in improving nutrition, especially with the public and the private sectors coming together.

The joint initiative on Gender-Transformative Approaches was launched today at the high-level event “Taking gender-transformative approaches to scale for impact on SDG2 to end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture” organized jointly by FAO, IFAD, WFP and the EU, at FAO headquarters in Rome, Italy.

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